A Day in Villville
by Fanficaddicttion
Summary: Prequel to Old Hag of Thneedville: Welcome back to a time when the Beanpoles and Peaches weren't enemies and Once-ler had a father. Why did the feud start? Whatever happened to Mr. Beanpole? How did a nice boy like Once end up with a nasty family? RxR
1. Beanpoles and Peaches

A Day in Villville

Chapter 1: Beanpoles and Peaches

Back in a tree filled town of Villville, before Once-ler ever thought up a thneed or met Ellen Peach and their lives spiraled down the drain, the Beanpoles lived at the end of the street next to no one it would seem but they didn't really care. Correction, Elysia didn't really care she had other neighbors she spent time gossiping about. Sometimes, she wished that she had people right next door to spy on or that she could hate for no apparent reason. Sure people used to live in that house through the years but Elysia's hate chased them away. Some people couldn't take a little back stabbing she supposed but because there were no neighbors next door she spent her days just being a bitch in her own home which she highly enjoyed. Elysia's family… not so much

Bradley started his day the same way every morning. He would wake up, take a shower, get dressed and then go wake up little Once-ler to help him with the chores. Now, in most families it might've seemed odd that a father would wake up his son so they could do chores together but Bradley did it for a few reasons: First, he thought it would be a nice bonding experience for him and Once-ler. Second, he was afraid of his wife and he didn't want to upset her so he did all the cooking and cleaning and sometimes needed the help. Unfortunately, since the day he met Elysia she controlled his life .Chose what he wore. Who he was friends with. EVERYTHING! Most of the time he wished he had never met her and could just run away but if he did that he would have to leave his boys behind. Brett and Chett would be ok because they had their mother's mean streak but Once-ler was a different story. Leaving him behind with this family was like leaving a monkey with chimpanzees you just didn't do it.

When Bradley got to Once-ler's room he nudged Once-ler awake. "Hey, Once… come on, Slugger time to get up." said Bradley.

The 7 year old groaned a little but then rolled over and got out of bed. "Morning, dad." said Once-ler looking at his father. The two of them then headed down to the kitchen; when they got there Elysia was sitting at the dining table with her arms crossed "Is there something you need to tell me, Bradley?" she asked the moment he entered.

"Good morning, Elysia. You're up early." said Bradley a little concerned.

"Good morning, mom." Once-ler chimed after

"Well…" Elysia said ignoring their greetings. "Answer the question"

"I'm not sure I understand, dear." said Bradley

"Then go over to the window and tell me what you see outside" said Elysia

Bradley did what he was told and went over to the window and noticed a moving truck in front of the house next door.

"What is the point of having a husband who works for the mayor if when we get new neighbors I'm the last to know!" screamed Elysia

"Mayor Vill never mentioned new people moving to town." said Bradley

"You are completely useless! Just get breakfast ready. " said Elysia dismissing him.

Bradley took Once-ler by the hand and walked into the kitchen with him.

"Mom is mean. " Once-ler said as they entered the kitchen

"Now, Once, I don't want you to say things like that about your mother. She loves us very much… in her own way. " said Bradley

"But if she loves us so much why is she always yelling at us? She never yells at Brett and Chett." Once-ler points out.

"I know but sometimes people yell when they love someone because they are trying to get them to do what is best for them. I don't want you to ever think your mother doesn't love us ok?" Bradley coaxed his son encouragingly.

"Ok. " said Once-ler nodding.

The rest of that morning went by pretty quickly. The family had breakfast which consisted mostly of Elysia talking about the new neighbors. She found out they were called the Peaches she even saw the family ,all blue eyed blonde haired people,a man, a woman, and a little girl. Brett and Chett evilly smirked when they heard this. They loved picking on people especially girls. They never caused to much damage because they were what their parents called "special". So evil plans were just a pipe dream to them.

After breakfast the boys got ready for school and Bradley went out on the curb with them to wait for the bus. It showed up pretty quickly. The doors opened and let the boys in "Hello, Brad." said the bus driver.

"Hey, Jim." Bradley responded "Keep my boys safe now."

"Always do" said Jim who closed the door and drove off.

Bradley looked next door and saw the Peaches get ready for their day. They seemed like a nice happy family and as he walked to his car and got in he was so engrossed in imagining having a family like that he didn't notice when he backed up into a fire hydrant. He then got out to see the damage. The Peach car stopped close by and Jerry Peach got out. "Hey, are you all right?" asked Jerry.

"I am. I'm not sure about the car." said Bradley

"Where are you going?" asked Jerry

"City hall." said Bradley

"My family is heading in that direction. How about a lift?" asked Jerry

"Thank you." said Bradley as he walked over to the car.

"I'm Jerry Peach… this is my wife Sarah and our daughter Ellen." Jerry introduced.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Bradley… Bradley Beanpole. Thank you so much for this." said Bradley.

"Not a problem." said Jerry.

Bradley was liking the Peaches more and more as they drove downtown. He had a feeling that Elysia would not like them too much though. She didn't really like people which bothered Bradley quite a bit. Villville was filled with a lot of nice decent people that he wasn't allowed to talk to because they weren't rich or classy enough. Finally, they reached city hall and Bradley got out and walked into the building and the Peaches drove off but as they did a knot formed in the pit and Bradley's stomach. Something, was going to happen today. Something bad.

Later at the local school, Ellen was sitting outside of the principal's office waiting for her mother. The principal came out first. "Hello, Ellen. I'm Mrs. Applegreen the principle here at Vill school. I'll show you to your class room. " said Mrs. Applegreen taking Ellen by the hand and taking her to her classroom. Sarah followed close behind. " Mrs. Peach, Ellen will be just fine. We'll take it from here."

Sarah nodded and turned to go. As she walked down the hall Elysia stomped in as if she owned the place. She stopped when she saw Sarah. " You're Mrs. Peach." she stated

"Yes, I'm Sarah Peach. And you are?" asked Sarah

Elysia glared at her as if she was insulted by the question "I'm Elysia Beanpole… your new neighbor."

"It's very nice to meet you." said Sarah

"Did your moron of a husband forget your children's lunches too?" she asked

"No. My husband just dropped me and my daughter off here. It's her first day after all. Besides, I'm usually the one that gets her ready."said Sarah

"Too stupid to do it himself, is he?" asked Elysia

"My husband is not stupid. He could get Ellen ready if he wanted to. Sometimes, he does. We trade off. This is my week to get her ready. Next week, is his week but I don't believe how my family is run is any business of yours." Sarah pointed out.

"And I suppose it's fair that you are getting involved in mine." said Elysia.

"I beg your pardon?" said Sarah

"I saw my husband get into your family's car." said Elysia.

"We were giving him a ride. It's called being neighborly." said Sarah.

" Then let me give you some advice, away from my family if you know what's good for you. That goes for your husband and your daughter too." said Elysia.

" What did I do to piss you off? I've just met you." said Sarah

" O, you haven't pissed me off. In fact, I'm very excited to have you in the neighborhood." said Elysia "Welcome to, Villville." and with that Elysia continued to walk down the hall and Sarah walked home very confused.

"MOMMY! MOMMY!" screamed Ellen as she entered the house covered in orange paint.

"Ellen! What happened!" said Sarah

"I hate school!" Ellen burst into tears

"Who did this to you?" asked Sarah very concerned

"Brett and Chett Beanpole. I hate them and I hate school… I'm never going back." said Ellen

"I don't blame you for not wanting to go back but you have to face up to bullies like them. If you run from them they win. But in this case, I think we should just talk to their parents. " said Sarah "You go upstairs and get cleaned up. I'm gonna go over and talk to them."

Sarah marched to the house next door very angry. She banged on the door as hard as she could and she was ready to yell at the person who opened it when she noticed it was a little boy. She took a deep breath and said "Hello, you must be Brett." said Sarah

"No." said Once-ler

"Chett then." said Sarah

"No." said Once-ler

"Then who are you?" asked Sarah.

"I'm Once-ler, their brother, but if Brett and Chett did something then you might want to see my mom. Come on in." said Once-ler

"I'm your next door neighbor Mrs. Peach. It's very nice to meet you, Once-ler." said Sarah as she entered.

"Mom, Mrs. Peach is here to see you." said Once-ler as he showed Mrs. Peach into the living room.

" Elysia, your sons owe my daughter an apology. They threw orange paint all over her." said Sarah "You know as well as I do that that is unacceptable."

"You're right. I'm sorry my boys are "special" they can't control their actions as well as other children. They were just playing with her I'm sure. I'll talk to…" said Elysia.

Just then the phone rang and Elysia picked it up "What… that doesn't make any… what do you mean he never came back from his lunch meeting? Did you talk to, Phil… The mayor you, moron… Phil Vill! This is no time to ask me why I'm on a first name basis with the mayor ,Malcolm! My husband is missing!… ok, who was this lunch meeting with?… What do you mean you can't tell me… I'm already mad!… with who?… I see… Thank you, Malcolm." said Elysia. "Where's your husband?"

" Still a work… why?" asked Sarah

"Because, I think your husband kidnapped mine." said Elysia

"That's ridiculous! Jerry has never done anything wrong in his life!" said Sarah.

"Well, then how do you explain the fact that Jerry was the last person to be seen with Bradley. They had a lunch date together this afternoon and no one has seen either of them since."

"That doesn't prove anything. Maybe your husband kidnapped mine. We know just as much about your family as you know about ours." Sarah pointed out.

"Well, if your husband did anything be warned that I won't take it lightly." Elysia threatened.

Thus started the feud between the Beanpoles and the Peaches.


	2. Whatever happened to Bradley Beanpole

Author's note: So, I got a very nice review of chapter 1 so I decided to write chapter 2. the premise has changed slightly.

Chapter 2: Whatever happened to Bradley Beanpole

At that moment Jerry's car pulls up into the drive way.

" Your husband's home? Well, he's much more clever than I thought coming home like nothing happened. That proves it in my opinion." said Elysia.

"That doesn't prove anything and as I have already told you Jerry would never even attempt to kidnap anyone! Maybe, your husband just ran away. Have you ever thought of that?" asked Sarah

"Impossible. I've known Bradley for a long time and he is too spineless to attempt that." said Elysia

"You don't really act like someone who's worried about their husband going missing. In fact, you seem much more concerned about getting my husband in trouble." said Sarah accusingly

" Are you saying that I did something? You can't prove that, but I can prove that your husband kidnapped mine but why should I when we can let the police deal with this?" asked Elysia

"You aren't going to get away with this." Sarah said and stomped out the door.

A little while later police were surrounding the Peach house and were taking Jerry away. Sarah ran out after the police car as it drove away dragging little Ellen with her. "Mommy, what's going on?" asked Ellen

"Something very bad, honey" Sarah looked back at the house and then over at the Beanpole's place. "Ok, let's go get your father from the police station" She grabbed her daughter by the hand and took her to the car.

Jerry was escorted into the interrogation room and sat down. "Mr. Peach, you seem like a respectable family man so just level with us" said the officer.

"I'm sorry but I don't know what this is about."said Jerry

"Is it true that you and Bradley Beanpole had a lunch date today?" asked the officer

"Yes." said Jerry

" Did he show up?" asked the officer

"No. He called me at the last minute and told me something came up. Didn't tell me any details but he sounded very upset. Did something happen?" Jerry responded

"Bradley Beanpole is missing, Mr. Peach and you were the last person to interact with him before he disappeared." said the officer

"You think I did something? That's crazy! Besides, I just met the man this morning. " said Jerry

"Isn't that curious. You invite a man you just met to have lunch with you. That sounds suspicious to me." said the officer "In fact, I believe that you did meet up with him for your lunch date but not to have lunch." said the officer

" I'm new in town he's the only person I know at the moment… Now, I'm telling you… I didn't do any…" suddenly the door opens and another officer walks in "Tom, Mr. Peach's wife is here to bail him out. "

"We can't hold you without more evidence. You're free to go, Mr. Peach." said the officer.

They uncuff Jerry who runs and hugs his wife and daughter."O, Jerry… are you ok?"

"Just fine. Are you all right?" he asked

"I am now but I think we moved to the town where the spawn of Satan lives." said Sarah

Bradley started to wake up. He got hit in the head pretty hard and was having difficulty remembering what happened or where he was. But as he started to focus he started to remember. He then heard movement next to him and looked over to see what made it. He saw Ubb sitting in the corner eating a banana. "How could you let them pull you into this?" he asked

"I'm just as afraid of my wife as you are of yours, Brad." said Ubb

"I'm not afraid of Elysia. I stood up to her didn't I?" said Bradley

"Congratulations, after 8 years of marriage you finally told her what's what." said Ubb clapping

"Fine, but I'm not afraid for myself." he said

"I know, you're afraid for your little slugger and why shouldn't you be. He doesn't know how to deal with people like that and without you to teach him he's a dead boy. " said Ubb "But you have awful timing, buddy and it just made things worse out there. Do you know that she's blaming the next door neighbors for this?" asked Ubb

" She's doing what? But why?" asked Bradley

" The perk of being the mayor's sister is that she doesn't need a reason to do anything." said Ubb "Now, aren't you glad you married a Vill. "

"Jesus Christ, I knew something bad would happen today! I have to do something!" said Bradley

"You can't clear their names. No one would believe you if you tried. " said Ubb "I think you should run. Take Once-ler and leave Villville." said Ubb.

"Leave? What would that accomplish?" asked Bradley

"You'd be free." said Ubb as he untied Bradley

"True." said Bradley

Bradley then snuck upstairs, packed some things for him and Once-ler, and went to Once-ler's room. "Hey, Slugger."

"Dad! I thought you were gone forever." said Once-ler

"Not yet but we're leaving. You and I right up some things and let's go." said Bradley

Once-ler got some things together and then he and Bradley snuck to the car and jumped in. "Dad, where are we going?" he asked

"We're leaving Villville" said Bradley

"Why?" Once-ler asked

"Remember this morning when I said that your mother loves us? I don't think that's true anymore. " said Bradley

Before they knew it the "Now Leaving Villville" sign appeared in front of them and they drove by it without another word.


	3. The Kidnapping

Chapter 3: The Kidnapping

Bradley and Once-ler passed sign after sign and town after town. After a while it was getting much to o late to drive anywhere and they spent a night at a hotel. "Dad, where are we going?" asked Once-ler who had never been outside of Villville before.

"I'm trying to figure that out. " said Bradley looking at a map of the US at a desk in their hotel room. There were so many places to go. He did have family in Quechee, VT and he knew it was nice there this time of year. He figured he could work at his family's old maple tree plantation. It wasn't much but it would be something. "How would you like to go to see your grandparents?" asked Bradley. Once-ler was very surprised the only grandparents he knew about were Will and Millie Vill and they had both died when he was little.

"But, grandma and grandpa are dead." said Once-ler.

"No, I didn't mean grandma and grandpa Vill… I meant grandma and grandpa Beanpole. They live in a town called Quechee. I haven't seen them in a long time but I think they'd be very happy to see us. I've told them all about you. " said Bradley "What do you say?"

"Yeah! I'd love to see them!" Once-ler yelled excitedly

"Ok… then Quechee it is. That means we'll have a few more hours to go in the morning" said Bradley

Elysia had been talking with her brother Phil, sister Grizelda, and Ubb for hours it seemed. "Maybe, we should just let them go. It seemed all Bradley wanted was what he thought was best for the boy. He's done it. Let's just move on." said Phil

" Phil, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard of ! I mean think, we had him locked in a basement and had our next door neighbors arrested for his kidnapping! He's going to tell someone and we're going to prison. I mean Jesus Christ man, this is not some story based off an animated kid's movie or a Dr. Suess book . We can't just ignore what's happened and let it magically work out so we all live happily ever after! Sometimes, I wonder why we backed you for mayor. You're an idiot!" said Elysia

" Of course, he won't tell anyone, Elysia. I told him no one would believe him when I…I'm getting tired. I'm going to bed." said Ubb

"You let him out! I swear all men are morons… no wonder Brett and Chett are so dumb there is so much stupid in this family the intelligence couldn't get through." said Elysia "Didn't you think that even if he couldn't tell anyone here someone would believe him out of town?" yelled Elysia

"Calm down, dear. You're getting yourself all worked up. Why did you marry, Bradley ? Because he's spineless all you have to do is give him a reason to listen to you. " said Grizelda

"You mean like press kidnapping charges against him? I love it!" said Elysia "Phil, can you set that up? and let's add a restraining order. We'll make this man wish he never stood up to a Vill."

"If you want to. I could get that arranged. I'm assuming you want a restraining order that gets him out of town." said Phil

"Can you do that?" asked Elysia

"Since, we are doing every other illegal and immoral thing we can think of. Why not?" said Phil

"Wonderful, but first we need to find them. Any ideas where they might have gone?" asked Elysia

"Does he have family outside of Villville?" asked Phil

"Yes, his parents live in some place called Quechee. They harvest sap from trees and make maple syrup with it, or something ridiculous like that." said Elysia. "Of course, Bradley would be the type of man to think that there is no place like home. He has quite a few hours ahead of us though." said Elysia

"Did you forget who we are? We're Vills, we can fly and beat him there." said Grizelda

"It's in the middle of nowhere. No airports." said Elysia

"That's never stopped us before." said Grizelda "Let's go."

The next morning, Bradley did his usual routine and then he and Once-ler hit the road. The car ride went by pretty quickly and before they knew it they were in Quechee, VT and were pulling up to a white cottage surrounded by a huge garden. "Wow, I've never seen so many flowers." said Once-ler.

"Yes, you're grandmother loves to garden." said Bradley as they walked up the path to the house. Bradley knocked on the door and it opened to reveal an old man in his 70's wearing pastel colors .

"Bradley?" asked the old man in surprise.

"Hello, dad." said Bradley.

"What are you doing here? I thought the spawn of Satan wouldn't let you see us. " said the old man.

"She doesn't know we're here. I hope. " he said

"We're?" the old man asked.

"O, yes… Dad, this is your grandson Once-ler" said Bradley

The old man suddenly noticed the little boy "Of course, he looks just like you Son, hello there, Once-ler. I'm your grandfather John. It's very nice to finally meet you. Your dad has been telling me all about you." he said "Come on in both of you. Your mother will be so happy to see you, Bradley."

They walked into a the nice cottage and into the wooden living room where an old woman was watching TV. She looked up as they came in "Bradley! Once-ler! O my…" she ran up and hugged them.

"Mom, it's so great to see you!" said Bradley

"What are you doing here?" the old woman asked

"I finally did it. I stood up to Elysia and I took Once-ler and left. " said Bradley

"Really? How did that happen?" asked his mom.

They all sat down and Bradley started the story:

( The day before)

Bradley had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach as he walked into City Hall. He walked passed friends and co-workers giving the usual greetings half heartily. He finally got to his cubicle and started to get to work. It had been a pretty easy day he even got a call from Jerry Peach wanting to have lunch. Sounded like a plan but plans changed. Bradley got a visit from his wife at around 11. Everyone acted like she was the boss as she entered the office and walked over to Bradley. "Elysia, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"You forgot the kids lunches but I took care of it. So, don't worry. Now, I don't want you hanging out with our new neighbors." said Elysia

"You don't even know them. They are very nice people." said Bradley

"Exactly, they are losers. Most nice people are." said Elysia

"I'm a nice person" said Bradley

"Need I say more?" asked Elysia.

"My parents were nice people too." said Bradley

"Of course, what is there to be mean about in a place called Quechee." said Elysia

" I don't think it's fair for you to jab at my family and my home town. I don't jab at yours and I'm sick and tired of you making fun of me. I'm not some child that you can just poke fun at til they cry! I'm an adult! And I'm decent person and I deserve respect and another thing, I don't care if you're the mayor's sister you have no right to treat me and our children like we're slaves born to serve only you! And if you don't start treating us with the respect we deserve I'm leaving you and taking the kids with me!" he yelled.

The people in nearby cubicles applauded him but became quiet when Elysia glared at them and then stomped out of the office without a word.

The rest of the afternoon went by pretty quietly but little did Bradley know that the bad feeling he had was about to be justified. As he walked out the building a pair of strong hands grabbed him and dragged him into an alley. He was then roughly handed a cell phone. "If you had any plans... cancel." said Grizelda

"Grizelda? What are you doing?" asked Bradley

" Just do it" she said

Bradley dailed the number Jerry had given him "Hey, Jerry. I'm sorry I won't be able to make lunch. Something very important just came up. Thank you for understanding… I was really looking forward to it ." said Bradley hanging up "Now, what is this about ,Grizelda? Wait, is this because I stood up to Elysia? I have every right to stand up to her. She acts like she's queen of the world and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

" Well, the Vills stick together and here's our response." said Grizelda and hits him over the head with a bottle….

"Then I woke up in the basement and decided to come here with Once-ler. That's pretty much it." said Bradley ending the story.

" Pretty good but could be a little better." said Elysia from behind them.

"Elysia Vill, What brings you here?" said John

"I came for Oncie." said Elysia

"Over my dead body you're taking this boy." said Bradley going over to protect him.

"I don't think killing you will be necessary but if you don't hand him over I will press kidnapping charges." said Elysia

"Kidnapping? We have joint custody because we're still married." said Bradley

"But you took him without permission and fled town." said Elysia

"Listen, Ms. I think I own the world, you may be able to make up and twist laws in Luciferville but here in Quechee we follow the laws like normal people and since you two are still married my son is completely within his rights so the boy stays here" said John "Now, I suggest you go back to ordering around your minions in hell before I have you arrested for kidnapping my son. "

" O, dear. I wish I had a restraining order or something that made it possible for me to take Oncie so Bradley would never be able to see him again. O, wait, I do." said Elysia and takes a document out and hands it to Bradley.

" You are the most evil person on the planet! This type of evil defies logic. It's like you're a villian from a children's movie or something. How are people like you able to exist?" asked Bradley

"Stop asking dumb questions and hand over the boy. " said Elysia.

Bradley looks at Once-ler. "Once, you have to go with your mother, ok? Now, this doesn't mean I don't love you because I do but I just can't be with you anymore. But I'll always be thinking of you, Slugger. And whatever happens remember you're a good boy and you'll make the right decisions if you try hard enough. Goodbye, son." he said and then moved out of the way. "Congratulations, Elysia. "

Elysia took Once-ler's hand and dragged him out of the house. "Are we going home, Mom?" he asked

"Yes, your father is not a well man and we need him to stay away for a while." said Elysia

Once-ler looked back at the house and then got in the helicopter with Elysia as they took off for home. When they got back to the house Elysia called up the Peaches on the phone and asked them to come over.

" This is a little hard for me but I owe you an apology. It turns out you were right, Mrs. Peach. Bradley ran away. I caught him trying to take Once-ler earlier this evening. So, I deeply apologize for all that I put you through and hope we can start over on a friendlier foot." said Elysia

" I'm sorry, Elysia but we can't accept your apology. We have been picked on by you and your children just because we're the new people in town. We really tried our best to be nice to you and your family and you threw it back in our faces by throwing paint on my daughter, insulting my wife, and getting me arrested for a crime that I never committed. We may have to live next to each other but there is no reason we have to get along. So, you can't take that phony apology and shove it,lady!" said Jerry "From now on the Peaches and Beanpoles are sworn enemies!" yelled Jerry. "And that goes for your kids too!"

Jerry stomped out of the house followed by Sarah. At first ,Elysia seemed unmoved by this and then a smirk closely formed on her face. She was very proud of herself.

The End

Author's note: Thanks for reading! I know this is very short but this felt like an ending. Thank you again and please review.


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